Ailing Jet Airways Founder Naresh Goyal Tells Court, "Lost Every Hope Of Life"
Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who has been serving judicial custody at Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai, for alleged fraud of Rs. 538 crores at Canara Bank, broke down in tears while moving a bail application before a special court judge in Mumbai. The septuagenarian, with “folded hands,” said he had “lost every hope of life” and it would be “better if he dies in jail” than living in his present condition.
Goyal has been confronted with grave events since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on September 1 last year in connection with the alleged bank fraud, as according to him, he misses his wife Anita very badly as she is in the advanced stage of cancer. According to court records, Goyal requested a few minutes of personal hearing while moving a bail application on Saturday, and special judge M. G. Desphande allowed it.
As per the court’s “roznama” (record of daily hearings), Goyal, with folded hands and “continuous tremors in his whole body,” submitted that “his health is very bad and precarious”.
The businessman added that along with his bedridden wife, their only daughter is also fighting with precarious health, and no one is there to look after them while jail staff has their limitations in helping him, said Goyal.
“I heard him patiently and also observed him when he made the submissions as such. I found that his whole body was trembling. He needs assistance even to stand,” the judge noted.
He requested the court not to send him to J.J. Hospital and instead “allow him to die in the jail itself” as he has been very weak with severe pain while urinating and blood passing through urine, coupled with unsustainable knee pain, and there was no use in referring him to J.J. Hospital.
The journey with other inmates as per the convenience of prison staff and an escort party from Arthur Road jail to the hospital is “very troublesome, hectic, and tedious, which he cannot bear and sustain.”.
Due to the prolonged wait to see the doctor, a further follow-up is not possible, which is “very badly affecting his health.”.
Goyal said, “He has lost every hope of life, and it”s better he die rather than be alive in such a situation.” “It’s “better if he dies in jail, his destiny will rescue him.
The judge directed his lawyers to take appropriate steps concerning his health, saying, “I have taken note of everything he has submitted and also assured the accused that he will not be left helpless, and all possible care of his mental and physical health will be taken with proper treatment.”
Last month, in his bail plea, Goyal cited multiple medical ailments like heart conditions, prostate issues, and orthopedic issues and claimed there were reasonable grounds to believe that “he is not guilty” urging ED to file their responses. The court has adjudged the case to be heard on January 16.
The ED filed the bank fraud case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the wake of an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives of the now-grounded private airline in connection with an alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore at the state-run Canara Bank.
The FIR was registered on the bank’s complaint alleging that it had sanctioned credit and loans worth Rs. 848.86 crore to Jet Airways (India) Limited, of which Rs. 538.62 crore was outstanding.
